Tributes paid to Clare centenarian

CHAIRMAN of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade Pat Breen this week paid tribute to Clare centenarian Joe Cunningham, who passed away in Yonkers, New York on Thursday last.
“I was very sorry to hear of Joe’s passing, as I had the pleasure of meeting him when he celebrated his 100th birthday in the Aisling Centre in New York during the St Patrick’s Day festivities earlier this year,” he said.
Joe was a native of Doon in Crusheen and loved meeting people from his native county and hearing the news from home.
He was born on April 11, 1912, the sixth of seven children, Sr Elizabeth, Thomas, Sr Agnes, Chris, Sr Christopher and Stephen, to James and Hanorah Cunningham. In 1929, at the age of 17, Joe emigrated to join two of his brothers in the United States. His parents had lived there between 1898 and 1902 and had married there.
Joe made the journey to the United States by boat and arrived there at the height of the Great Depression when work was scare. Joe got a job as a clerk in a Daniel Reeves store in Scarsdale. Daniel was one of four Clare brothers who had set up a chain of grocery stores in New York. Joe lost that job a year later and almost immediately he secured another job working as a supervisor in Butlers Stores.
According to an obituary published in The Journal News on Sunday, Joe became a “licensed electrician in 1940 with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company where he worked for 37 years, until retiring in 1977. In 1948, he married Rose O’Donnell of Drumkeerin, County Leitrim in New York and they soon settled in the Bronx, raising their family.”
Joe was a popular entertainer in the New York Irish-American community for more than 60 years.
“He started the Joe Cunningham Orchestra in 1931, which he passed to two of his sons, Joe and Jimmy, as The Cunningham Brothers Band. He played many Irish county dances and weddings during his career and taught Irish accordion,” the piece continued.
His love of music is also carried on through his family in Clare.
“Joe made a big impression upon me when I met him. He was a very active man and he is used to regularly drive to see his wife, Rose, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a retirement home. I was delighted to be on hand, with the Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton TD to present Joe with his Certificate of Proclamation on behalf of Mike Spano, Mayor of Yonkers, New York in recognition of Joe’s contribution to enriching the social, civic and philanthropic fabric of the city and beyond and to share in the celebration of his life,” Deputy Breen stated.
Ireland’s Consular General in New York Noel Kilkenny, who himself has strong links to County Clare, represented the Irish Embassy at Joe’s funeral and he also presented a message of sympathy from President Michael D Higgins to the family at his funeral.
Joe was as well-known member of the Clare Association in New York. He is survived by his wife, Rose; sons Joseph Jnr, Jimmy and John; daughter, Cathy, his nephews, grandchildren, great-grandchild and family in Clare.
He was predeceased by his daughter, Mary.